A Talent Acquisition Accelerator for the Events Industry
TAP develops high-performing students into professionals companies want to hire—and trust to perform.
For Industry Partners
TAP delivers a vetted pipeline of early-career talent prepared to contribute from day one.
Outcome: Better hires. Faster impact.
For Students
TAP gives you direct access to how the industry actually works—and what it takes to succeed inside it.
Outcome: You don’t compete as a student. You show up as a professional.
How TAP Works
The Difference
Most programs prepare you to apply.
TAP prepares you to be selected.
Engagement
TAP works with a limited number of partner organizations and a selective group of students each year.
TAP exists to change who gets hired—and who leads—in the events industry.
For Industry Partners
The next generation of high-performing talent is not missing.
It’s being overlooked.
TAP establishes a reliable pathway to identify, develop, and access that talent—before your competitors do.
End state: An industry powered by better talent decisions.
For Students
Where you come from should not determine how far you go—but how you show up will.
TAP ensures high-performing students are not overlooked or underestimated by giving them:
End state: You are evaluated—and hired—as a professional, not a résumé.
What We’re Building
A permanent, trusted pathway between exceptional talent and the organizations that need them.
A system that consistently surfaces, develops, and delivers high-caliber professionals.
The Result
An industry where:
We make high-potential talent visible, credible, and ready to perform.
Why TAP Exists
The Annabelle Project began with a simple question:
What determines which young people become leaders—and which never get the opportunity to try?
That question came from watching my daughter, Annabelle—her curiosity, confidence, and intelligence—and realizing something uncomfortable:
Talent like hers is everywhere.
Opportunity, preparation, and access are not.
The Realization
After more than three decades building and leading event businesses, I had seen this pattern:
The industry does not lack talent.
It lacks a reliable way to identify, prepare, and trust it early.
Hiring decisions are made on signals—judgment, credibility, readiness—not just potential.
Too many capable students never learn how to demonstrate those signals.
So they are overlooked.
The Gap
This is especially true for students without built-in access to networks, industry context, or professional exposure.
Not because they lack ability— but because no one has shown them how the system actually works.
At the same time, companies continue to say: “We can’t find the right talent.”
Both things are true.
The Response
The Annabelle Project was created to close that gap.
This is not academic support.
It is preparation for how hiring really works.
For Industry
You gain access to talent that has already been observed, developed, and conditioned to perform.
Not untested candidates— Prepared professionals with trajectory.
For Students
You are no longer guessing.
You understand expectations, decision-making, and how to show up in a way that earns trust early.
What It’s Become
What started as a question about one child has become a system:
A structured pathway connecting exceptional talent to an industry that needs stronger future leaders.
We make high-potential talent visible, credible, and ready to perform.
The Annabelle Project prepares high-performing students to enter the exhibitions, events, and hospitality industries with the credibility, judgment, and professional readiness employers expect.
Through structured one-on-one mentorship with senior industry leaders, participants gain real-world business insight, executive exposure, and access to professional networks that accelerate their development far beyond traditional entry pathways.
TAP does more than offer guidance. It creates a clear, deliberate pathway for exceptional students to transition from academic promise to industry-ready professionals—positioned to contribute, lead, and advance with confidence.
